Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34454 on 23 June 2010, which refers to the process around these appeals. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have confirmed that although the use of accommodation within the same hospital building has changed, the service and the staff providing it remain the same.

The NHS board have given assurances that they engaged with the young patients and their families to ensure that they understood the reasons behind the changes and what it meant for patients.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33586 on 24 May 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website; the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

All children with cystic fibrosis must receive care from a multi-disciplinary team of specialist doctors, nurses and AHPs, in line with agreed standards of care, wherever they live. The employment of clinical staff such as specialist nurses is a matter for NHS boards. We do, however, ask NHS boards to consider the role of specialist nurses as part of their plans to make sure that services meet the needs of people living with cystic fibrosis and all long-term conditions.

NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have confirmed that its cystic fibrosis nurse specialists have recently started to undertake one shift a month working within the ward setting and this allows the opportunity to fulfil many aspects of their job description.

Both NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have assured me that Cystic Fibrosis specialist nurses working on the ward will not curtail their ability to provide home visits, if this is required by families.

The joint consultation on whether and, if so, how, to regulate practitioners of herbalism, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine (a devolved area in Scotland), was issued on behalf of all four UK countries by the Department of Health in England. In view of the large number of responses, additional resource for the work on the consultation analysis was sought from a private consultancy. Purely quantitative or qualitative analysis has proved difficult, due to the volume of responses and the number and complexity of the consultation questions. In addition, some replies proved ambiguous and difficult to classify. The response to the consultation will take into account the quality of the responses and the evidence base supporting respondents'' arguments.

The prime aim of regulation is to protect the public. Decisions informed by the consultation analysis will be taken by ministers in all four UK countries against that background and bearing in mind the need for a proportionate, risk-based approach which considers the full menu of regulatory alternatives recommended in the report of the UK Extending Professional Regulation Working Group. I will also be taking into account any particularly Scottish issues that have arisen from the consultation, and the potential future effect on employment and businesses.

We have maintained continuous dialogue with the UK Department of Health and the other two UK countries. This will continue as the response to the recent joint UK consultation on the regulation of practitioners of herbalism, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine is developed. There were 6,669 responses to the consultation by the due deadline.

The proposed Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) for 2010-11 is lower due to the accelerated funding made available in 2008-09 and 2009-10 which came from the 2010-11 budget. It was widely known that the AHIP would be lower in 2010-11 due to this accelerated funding.

At present, the £9.2 million assumed for Fife is simply a Resource Planning Assumption for programme development purposes. Ministers will consider the allocations further once detailed programmes are available.

Over the last three years - including the 2010-11 Resource Planning  Assumptions - Fife will have had access to £43.513 million of Scottish Government AHIP funding, an annual average of £14.504 million. In addition, Fife has also been allocated funding from the Scottish Government for new Council House Building, funding from the Open Market Shared Equity Pilot scheme, and the Rural Homes for Rent scheme, highlighting the Scottish Government''s support for affordable housing in Fife.

The Scottish Government has already made available £120 million of accelerated funding in 2008-09 and 2009-10, which came from the 2010-11 budget, in order to support affordable housing across Scotland during the economic downturn, providing vital work for the construction industry. Fife benefited from a share of this funding.

The result is that over the last three years “ including the 2010-11 Resource Planning Assumptions “ Fife will have had access to £43.513 million of Scottish Government Affordable Housing Investment Programme funding, an annual average of £14.504 million. In addition, Fife has also been allocated funding from the Scottish Government for new Council House Building, funding from the Open Market Shared Equity Pilot scheme, and the Rural Homes for Rent scheme, highlighting the Scottish Government''s support for affordable housing and the construction industry in Fife. The only way to increase housing investment further would be for the UK Chancellor to make more money available in 2010-11 in the budget on 24 March 2010.

In addition, as part of the Fife Housing Association Alliance preferred developer agreement that operates in Fife to deliver the Affordable Housing Investment Programme, the Key Performance Indicators used to monitor performance include a Training and Employment indicator. In the last two years, 145 beneficiaries of the Fife Works project are undertaking additional training not covered by mainstream provision. In addition to this, 118 individuals have secured employment opportunities and 21 work placements have been secured to date, with a number of additional placements due to start in the near future. The Fife Works project undertakes a job brokerage service which links emerging training and employment opportunities from major capital projects and procurement packages in Fife.

In the last two years, the Scottish Government has provided funding to approve the construction of 515 affordable housing units from the Affordable Housing Investment Programme. The planned number of Affordable Housing Investment Programme approvals for 2010-11 is still being developed. In addition, the Scottish Government has also provided funding for nearly 170 additional units through the Council House Building programme, the Open Market Shared Equity Pilot, and the Rural Homes for Rent scheme, highlighting the Scottish Government''s support for affordable housing in Fife.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31572 on 11 February 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.